Root Cause Analysis of Component Failure
- Understanding Levels of Causes of Failures
- Physical, mental, latent
- Time of origin of causes: Design phase, manufacturing, maintenance, use, complex interactions
- Getting Set up to Perform a Failure Investigation
- Understanding human nature
- Techniques to improve use of our knowledge
- The failure analysis toolbox
- Evidence preservation in the lab and in the field
- Basic visual examination
- Specimen selection
- Use of “control” parts
- Principles of Materials Science and Engineering: A Crash Course
- Atoms, crystals, grains
- Anisotropy
- The process, structure, properties triangle
- Practical Macro and Micro Fractography
- Crack appearance in different loading geometries
- Axial
- Bending
- Torsion
- Direct shear
- Contact loading
- Classical Microscale Features
- MVC (“ductile dimples”)
- Cleavage
- Intergranular
- Striations
- Dealing with the lack of published data on polymeric fractography
- Fracture Analysis Techniques:
- Optical metallography
- NDT methods
- Composition analysis
- Mechanical tests
- FEA in fracture analysis
- Preventing Failures
- Quantitative determination of an adequate hardening heat treating specification for steel components
- How to specify steel for stampings
- “Guess and Hope,” “Guess and Test,” and “Comprehensive Engineering” approaches to design
- Putting It All Together
- Evaluating self-consistency in the conclusions of the various tests
- Putting together the component pieces of the analysis into a cohesive and incisive whole
- How to read and evaluate root cause failure analysis reports
- (Workshop only): Extended Case Studies
- Wrap-up: Course recap, Q/A, and evaluations
